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iBooks for $300

ibook G3 is barely worth that, try ebay for some comparisons.

though a warranty can be thought of as "worth the money"?

For $300 you can probably get a decent iBook g4.
 
Going off UK prices they are well worth it, the higher end of the G3 market (900MHz) tend to still go for £300 here (Almost $600) seems expensive, gotta love that exchange rate.
 
An iBook G4 12" goes for $700 on eBay (my friend just sold hers BIN for $699.99) and an iBook G4 14" goes for $890.
 
Just curious...

What applications could you run on this machine...

could you still do some video or audio?

Could you run the latest OSX??

If it is fine for surfing and minimal audio & video....this may work out
 
Planner Dude said:
Just curious...
Click to expand...

(With respect to the iBook G3...) You can run OS X at least as far as Tiger (the current version). Office should be fine. From iLife, iPhoto and iTunes should be fine. All of that given that you either make compromises regarding how you run Tiger (e.g. disable dashboard, etc) and/or max the RAM.

The rest of iLife is probably going to be a stretch / no go. It's probably going to be a lot less than ideal for any video work beyond playing relatively low bit-rate videos. So I would guess that if you mean you want to edit video, you're not going to want to be on a G3 unless you're willing to wait through very, very long lags for any operations. Videoconferencing is also going to probably be either completely not feasible or very limited.

I'm not sure if that answers your question?

With respect to the iBook G4, you can do basic iLife probably with the exception of Garageband (unless you have one of the later revision iBooks in the mid 1 GHz's ... in which case GB is probably also fine). You are still going to want to make some compromises with respect to the way Tiger is configured (I disabled dashboard) and also are probably going to want to limit multitasking if you're using Tiger.
 
clevin said:
oh, my, local microcenter sold new iBook G4 for $620.
Click to expand...

eBay buyers are stupid. I know of a case where an ebay seller was saying in his auctions "as new, unused". No kidding, he was buying the product from a local retail shop after the action closed. He was typically doing a 20% markup over retail. and then charging double his cost to ship.

Want a iPod Shuffle? Like new $100 + S&H.
 
erikamsterdam said:
That is just *so* amazing when a Macbook is $1100...
Click to expand...

Go to a luxury dealer lot in the US and look at pricing on a used SLK from six or seven years ago if you want to be amazed... :rolleyes:

The whole "does it make sense" question depends on perspective. If you have fluid assets and can make benefit of the better computer, of course I agree that it makes no sense to buy an old computer for a few hundred dollars less. But not everyone has adequate cash reserves. There are plenty of people, for better or worse, who have exactly $600 or whatever in their pocket and want the best they can get with it. And the market reality with respect to Macs is that the used market is often a sellers' market.
 
mkrishnan said:
Go to a luxury dealer lot in the US and look at pricing on a used SLK from six or seven years ago if you want to be amazed... :rolleyes:

The whole "does it make sense" question depends on perspective. If you have fluid assets and can make benefit of the better computer, of course I agree that it makes no sense to buy an old computer for a few hundred dollars less. But not everyone has adequate cash reserves. There are plenty of people, for better or worse, who have exactly $600 or whatever in their pocket and want the best they can get with it. And the market reality with respect to Macs is that the used market is often a sellers' market.
Click to expand...

Oh I know, I know. And I will enjoy it to the fullest. I will have a new Mac every 2 years this way, and not lose money compared to just using it till it's old.
 
g3 not worth it. lets face it, it just doesnt have the proccessing power of even the g4, and probably won't be able to handle leopard
 
I am that person

The whole "does it make sense" question depends on perspective. If you have fluid assets and can make benefit of the better computer, of course I agree that it makes no sense to buy an old computer for a few hundred dollars less. But not everyone has adequate cash reserves. There are plenty of people, for better or worse, who have exactly $600 or whatever in their pocket and want the best they can get with it. And the market reality with respect to Macs is that the used market is often a sellers' market.[/QUOTE]

I really don't want to spend more. We have an imac g5 and my son has a budding garage band hobby on his mac mini but we wouldn't mind some portablility.

I want to show powerpoint and videos from my hd at school so I'd need VGA, I assume. I want to drink a latte at Starbucks and surf so I need wireless (we still have dial up at home in the middle of Big D believe it or not and we are refusing to get cable- broadband is available all around us but not to us! GRRRRR) so I want an internal modem.
My son probably will play on it on vacation w/ garageband. I like to play with photoshop. My daughter will have a few games, my husband a headache because he's in the middle of a geeky family.

So what's the very basic I need and where do I get it? Is a warranty worth it? I'd love some direction before I go bidding on ebay and make a big mistake.

Id love even more to purchase it here since I trust you guys more than ebay or craigslist.:eek: at least m:rolleyes: ost of you....
Brenda
 
brobson said:
My son probably will play on it on vacation w/ garageband. I like to play with photoshop. My daughter will have a few games
Click to expand...

You're probably fine for your uses but neither of your children will be very happy... Garageband and an iBook G3 are not going to get along at all. Your daughter can probably play online / Java type games and things like that, but no commercial games written in the past 2-3 years....

If you want to do all of those things, you need at least a later revision iBook G4 or Powerbook G4. You don't need a MacBook or MBP, but by the time you get to the cost range of a good enough G4 (i.e. probably at least 1.2 GHz and >512MB RAM) it won't be cost effective...sowwies.
 
iBook G4s are excellent machine and I have the last rev 14" which does its job fantastic.

Unless you really have the need to get the latest-greatest technology or do pro stuff, these machines are rock solid unlike the new intels macs.

I know I wont be upgrading for a while, since leopard offers nothing new that I must have and these machines just work without kinks. You won't go wrong buying g4 ibooks.

Yeah, they don't scream power nor does it burn your laps :)
 
Whistleway said:
iBook G4s are excellent machine and I have the last rev 14" which does its job fantastic.

Unless you really have the need to get the latest-greatest technology or do pro stuff, these machines are rock solid unlike the new intels macs.

I know I wont be upgrading for a while, since leopard offers nothing new that I must have and these machines just work without kinks. You won't go wrong buying g4 ibooks.

Yeah, they don't scream power nor does it burn your laps :)
Click to expand...

So is $600 a good price for 14" 60hd 1.2GHz and 1G memory?
 
please advise....I found one I like

brobson said:
So is $600 a good price for 14" 60hd 1.2GHz and 1G memory?
Click to expand...
60 gig hard drive
1.2 GHZ
14" screen

Ibook G4

Combo drive
total of 1.25 GIG memory (256 MG built in with 1GIG apple brand memory card in the extra slot bought 6/06) $300 value

New Battery is 4 months old. $129. value (old battery included)
Airport extreme card included already installed-$99 value
Original 10.3 install disks installed

Power adapter purchased new 4/05
Tiger 10.4 disk included for upgrade-$80 value
Bluetooth USB adapter with software- $50 value
Ilife '04 software-including first generation GarageBand.- $70. value
Airport Express base included. Air tunes and print capability. $129.00 value
 
Whistleway said:
*bump*
Click to expand...

why!?


anyway, is $600 a good deal.

Yes, sorta, maybe, I dont know.

Its a fine machine. Good speed, good specs and good accessories (airport express, hi-yo!).
ilife is basically free with a new machine, its value is null.
Do you care about Bluetooth?
Tiger disks included, not REALLY needed, but value nonetheless
wireless card, was part of the machine to begin with id assume, value is null.


However, for a few hundred more you get a machine that is over 2 generations of CPUs newer which in terms of "cost" and "value" is far better than a G4 portable anyday.

jeez, MacBooks have about the same "power" as my Dual G5 from 3 years ago.
 
I am considering what you say

Sdashiki said:
why!?


anyway, is $600 a good deal.

Yes, sorta, maybe, I dont know.

Its a fine machine. Good speed, good specs and good accessories (airport express, hi-yo!).
ilife is basically free with a new machine, its value is null.
Do you care about Bluetooth?
Tiger disks included, not REALLY needed, but value nonetheless
wireless card, was part of the machine to begin with id assume, value is null.


However, for a few hundred more you get a machine that is over 2 generations of CPUs newer which in terms of "cost" and "value" is far better than a G4 portable anyday.

jeez, MacBooks have about the same "power" as my Dual G5 from 3 years ago.
Click to expand...

I hear what you say but in potatoe's above thread the macbooks are cheaply made and I would have to add memory and airport so it'd be more like 300 more, making it $1165. ALmost twice the price.
My main hesitation is the no warranty. I am really nervous about it breaking like a month later and having no recourse.
 
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